Key Points
- Security agencies say the far-right, lone actor threat is on the rise.
- The federal government will receive a report on a national firearms registry this year.
- ASIO director-general Mike Burgess briefed National Cabinet on Friday.
The threat of far-right "lone actors" is rapidly growing as the capability of Islamist extremist groups like the self-proclaimed Islamic State group (IS) has "substantially degraded", the nation's anti-terror agencies believe.
ASIO director-general Mike Burgess on Friday briefed National Cabinet on the so-called sovereign citizens movement following the Wieambilla attack, with a report on a national firearms registry to be delivered by the Attorney-General's Department mid-year.
The attack, carried out by a trio of anti-government conspiracists, sparked calls for a national firearms registry, after revelations one of the killers entered Queensland illegally carrying a host of weapons eventually used in the incident.
Speaking after the meeting, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese conceded it was "clear we need to do better with jurisdictions when it comes to firearms" after the attack, in which the Train family murdered two police officers and their neighbour.
'Catastrophic, calculated murder'
National Cabinet met on Friday. Source: AAP / MICK TSIKAS
But he did not answer directly when asked whether he considered it an act of domestic terrorism.
"We know that the threat is real and, tragically, we have seen the consequences of it," he said.
A spokesperson for the Department of Home Affairs told SBS News that far-right extremism is more fluid and less ideologically coherent than other forms of radicalisation, making law enforcement responses more complex.
The Australian Muslim Advocacy Network last week argued that a disproportionate number of Islamist groups listed as terror organisations - 25 compared to three far-right groups - meant .
But the Home Affairs spokesperson insisted the structure of right-wing extremism, which now accounts for roughly half of ASIO's counter-terror workload, made organisations more difficult to proscribe.
"Ideologically motivated violent extremist groups are generally observed to have more fluid and often fractured structures, with proponents often holding varied or mixed, often unclear belief systems [or] ideologies," they said.
“Membership and allegiances can also be fluid.”
Security agencies believe the threat of far-right extremism is growing. Source: AAP
'Most likely attack'
ASIO has warned the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated radicalisation, while extremists were increasingly focusing on individual issues rather than broad ideologies, posing a challenge for law enforcement.
The complexity of the task was laid bare by the Queensland attack.
While many of the trio's known beliefs could be considered far-right, they had no established links to organised terror groups, and were distinct from the racist and neo-Nazi ideology espoused by other right-wing extremist groups.
Mr Albanese said Mr Burgess' briefing focused on the rise of right-wing extremism, particularly the nascent sovereign citizens movement, to which the three killers appear to have proscribed.
AMAN also urged ASIO to stop labelling groups like IS and al-Qaeda "religiously motivated", arguing it bolstered the group's credibility while feeding far-right narratives.
But Home Affairs argued the terminology allowed authorities to "accurately and objectively" describe violent extremist groups, regardless of their ideology.
They said the threat from religiously-motivated extremists had "moderated", with the threat from Sunni extremist organisations like al-Qaeda and IS "substantially degraded".
"The most likely terrorist attack scenario in Australia continues to be a lone-actor attack," they said.
"But the violent extremist beliefs which motivated these groups persist, and will continue to appeal to a small number of Australians."
